Refrigerated display cases for beverage containers, and the like, generally include vertically aligned rows of racks, commonly called glide racks, upon which the beverage containers are loaded. The beverage containers may be cans or bottles of any size and the width of the glide rack rows are adjusted accordingly to accommodate each particular container. Glide racks may also be used for gallon jugs of a beverage, such as milk, or for any other type of container that may displayed for sale within a refrigerated case. Referring to FIG. 1, a typical prior art glide rack is shown generally be reference number 10. The glide rack includes a plurality of rows 12 extending from the front 14 of the glide rack to the rear 16 thereof. Each row may then be loaded with rows of beverage containers 18 extending from the front of the display case to the rear of the display case. Each glide rack is disposed within the refrigerated display case at an angle of approximately five to twelve degrees. Thus, when the forwardmost beverage container 18' is removed from the row 12 by a consumer, the next beverage container 18" will move forward to occupy the forwardmost position, and the remainder of the row of beverage containers will follow. In this manner, there is always a beverage container at the front of each row of the glide rack ready to be dispensed to a consumer.
As shown in FIG. 1, the support surface 20 of each row 12 of the glide rack includes a plurality of slots extending therethrough. These slots allow any spillage that may occur from the beverage containers to drain to the bottom of the display case. The slots also reduce the surface area of the support surface 20 so that there is less contact with the beverage containers and they therefore slide more easily. Prior art glide racks are currently manufactured using a high density polyethylene with a silicone plasticizer. When the racks are poured the resultant plastic material has a directional grain and the silicone is disposed on the exposed surfaces of the glide rack, including the support surface 20, in order to assist the beverage containers in gliding. However, the silicone easily wears off the bottom surface as the beverage containers slide therealong thus decreasing the glidability of the beverage containers.
As the silicone on the sliding surface of the glide rack wears off, more friction is created by the sliding of the beverage containers thereon and the plastic sliding surface of the glide rack becomes more roughened. This in turn creates more problems as the beverage containers may fall over, tip, rotate, occasionally open and spill. The repeated sliding along the roughened sliding surface and the beverage containers tipping and spilling creates a worn and unusable glide rack within only three to four months of use. In the past, it has been necessary to completely replace the entire glide rack once it reached this point of wear and tear, resulting in costly and repeated expenditures.
Accordingly, there is a strong need for a glide rack improvement enabling prior art glide racks to be used for an extended period of time after the initial silicone coating has worn away.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/720,800 of Lecroy, filed Oct. 1, 1996, discloses one solution to the foregoing problems, i.e., a plastic insert which is placed in a worn glide rack to improve the glide characteristics of the rack. Lecroy's insert has an upper surface that is roughened after formation, e.g., by sanding with sandpaper. However, sanding, whether done by hand or by machine, adds time and cost to the manufacturing process.